Tennessee attraction offers Zombie Santa and undead elves for charity
By Tim Ghianni
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - A Nashville-area haunted house is getting into the Christmas spirit this weekend, with Zombie Santa, his undead elves and one demonic reindeer going on the attack for fun and charity.
"Instead of Christmas cheer, we are spreading some holiday fear," said Carroll Moore, who is turning his Halloween season "Death Yard Haunted Attraction" in Hendersonville into a Yuletide horror show this Friday and Saturday.
For $10 and an unwrapped new toy, visitors can pass through the 13,000-square-foot warehouse northeast of Nashville crammed with horrors. For $5 more, they can go to the paintball range just outside and take 15 shots at Zombie Santa and his friends.
"You can unload on the undead," Moore said. "Maybe Santa Claus wasn't good to you last year."
The unwrapped new toys will go to Last Minute Toy Store, which operates out of a Nashville church and gives parents who cannot afford toys a chance to look for things their children might want, for no cost.
Moore said he hopes his Zombie Christmas attraction will become just as much a holiday tradition as driving around to look at lights or going to see the Rockettes.
Moore is also offering chainsaw-wielding maniacs and killer clowns, dressed for the holidays.
Nita Haywood, who helps run the Last Minute Toy Store at the 61st Avenue United Methodist Church, where she is director of children, youth and family ministries, said she will visit Horrific Haunted Holiday.
"It's different, but new toys are new toys. And what a way to get teens involved," she said.
(Reporting by Tim Ghianni; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Sandra Maler)
